Life, Love and Jelly Beans
by funkyrocker
Summary: Lily and James are both new students at Hogwarts. Although they have that one thing in common, I wish you good fortune in finding anything else. However, no matter how different they are, it doesn't nessesarily affect how a person can feel....
1. Default Chapter

A/N ( Major editing has been done!!! Please read and review!! I hope you like it!!  
  
Life, Love and Jelly Beans  
  
Chapter one  
  
It was the first of September, some time in the 70's, at quarter to 11. It was at King's Cross Station, and a young girl could be seen walking around behind her parents. Now I'm sure there were many young girls at King's Cross Station doing the exact same thing as she was now, but there was something special about this one. She wasn't any ordinary girl. She was somehow different...  
  
Lily Evans was her name. Now, what could be so special about her, you ask? Well, for one thing, her ferocious red hair, and her dazzling green eyes. Green eyes so vivid and alive. But now those eyes were lost... lost in thought, thinking about the exact same thing you are now... why she's so special.  
  
Ever heard of a place called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Well, no I'm sure you haven't, you being a muggle and all... what's that you say? What did I just call you? Oh really, now I've gone and confused you, and distracted you from the point I was getting to.  
  
Now, where was I... ah yes, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Earlier that summer, Lily Evans had received a quite unexpected letter... sent in quite an unusual manner.  
  
She had been sitting outside in the shade of the large maple tree in her backyard, reading. She suddenly heard a rustling of wings overheard, but at first thought nothing of it. Probably just two robins fighting over the same worm, she thought. But then she heard it hoot. Wait a minute, she thought. Robins don't hoot. Now her attention was snagged and she looked up. On one of the branches there was a barn owl starring down at her. Lily was quite startled at first. What the heck was a barn owl doing in her back yard? And then she noticed something attached to its leg. Something white, and square. She squinted her eyes to see if maybe she could see what it was better, when suddenly the owl spread its wings and soared down to her. She was so startled, she let out a scream. The owl dropped the object into her lap, and soared away,and Lily watched as it flew away and got smaller and smaller until it was no longer visible.  
  
Lily then turned her attention back to the object in her lap. It was an envelope, sealed with wax that had a large 'H' stamped on it. She turned it over to look at who it was addressed to. This is what it said.  
  
Lily Evans Under the Maple tree, in the backyard 42 Koala Way London, England  
  
She was confused, but curious, so she turned the letter back over, slid her finger under the seal and opened it. Inside she found 2 pieces of paper. She gasped as she read the letter. She read it over and over trying to see who would pull such a prank, but deep down she knew it wasn't a prank. It was real.  
  
She was... a witch.  
  
A/N( yes, yes, i know it's a lot shorter than before, but the rest of the chapter is undergoing major editing too, so then that will become chapter 2...ok? Ok... now go review!!! :P 


	2. chapter 2

A/N Here it is! Please Read and Review!

Life, Love and Jelly Beans

Chapter 2

Now, this brings me back to King's Cross Station, where Lily was, looking for the Hogwarts Express which could be found on platform 9 and 3/4.

As I mentioned before, Lily was lost in thought thinking all this through in her head once again, for what seemed like the thousandth time, but she could still find nothing to explain it all. She had even seen the magic with her own eyes when she went to Diagon Alley with her parents. She had seen all the other witches and wizards, and some of the magical things they had done. She even had her very own wand to prove it!

With that thought, she slid her hand into her pocket and closed her hand around the long Willow wand, as if checking to make sure that it hadn't hopped out and run away while she wasn't looking.

Nope, it's real all right, she thought to herself. Then, quite suddenly, she was interrupted from her thoughts as she bumped into her mother, who had been walking in front of her, but had stopped dead in her tracks.

"See, i told you." Mrs. Evans was saying to her husband, with her hands on her hips. "Where on earth would they have a platform 9 and _3/4_? Do you see one here?" she spread her arms out to indicate the signs for platforms 9 and 10. _Do you?_

Of course Mr. Evans could not answer that, and he was quite taken aback at the tone his own wife had used with him, as well as the fiery look she had in her eyes.

"Well... I... uhhh..." he stammered, lost for words.

Mrs. Evans then let out a sigh and let her arms fall to her sides. "Oh I'm sorry dear, all this magic business has gotten me quite stressed out." She brought her hands up to her face and rubbed her temples. "I didn't mean to shout at you.

"It's quite all right darling. I know how you must be feeling. Maybe we should ask somebody...

At this, Lily cut in. "Are you _crazy_ dad? If you ask somebody, they'll wonder how much drink you've had!

"Lily! Don't speak to your father like that." Snapped Mrs. Evans.

Lily just sighed and rolled her eyes. Why did her parents have to be so weird? ÔWhat if it's genetic?' she wondered with horror.

Suddenly Lily felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around but found nobody there. ÔOh great, I think I just found out the answer to my question. Now I'm imagining that people are taping me on the shoulder.' She rolled her eyes once more before turning around, and found that her nose was 2 inches away from another strange nose.

She screamed and jumped back. By doing so, she was able to see who the strange nose belonged to more clearly. It belonged to a boy about the same age as her, with messy black hair, brown eyes and a huge grin on his face.

"Ha!" he laughed triumphantly. "I scared you!

"Scared? _Scared_? You wish. I was just surprised. I mean, how often to you turn around and find a stranger 2 inches from your nose?

The boy looked a bit deflated after her comment, but quickly changed the subject.

"Well, anyway... I just figured that you looked a little bit lost, and I figured I could help you!" At this he bowed and said in a fake french accent, "James Potter at your service, mademoiselle." Lily just rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently.

If James noticed, he didn't show it, because he continued in the same phoney accent, "DOes this mademoiselle have a name?

"My name is Lily. Now go away." she said. This James fellow was quite annoying. She then turned away to find out where her parents had gotten to. She spotted them a little ways off talking to another couple, and Their expressions seemed far more relaxed.

Lily started walking towards them, and she found that James was following her.

She turned and yelled at him, "Why are you following me?

He just smiled at her and said, "Those are my parents." Then he walked past her smugly and went to join his parents.

Lily stood where she was with a thought of dread crossing her mind. "Urg... if my parents become friends with his..." She didn't get to finish her thought because she heard her mom call to her. She sighed and made her way over to the group.

"Lily , this is Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and this is their son James." Mrs. Evans told Lily as soon as she arrived. "They're wizards too, and they're going to help us get to that _blasted_ platform." she added, emphasising the word Ôblasted'.

"Pleased to meet you Lily." Mrs. Potter said politely, holding out her hand to Lily. Lily shook her hand, and then Mrs. Potter nudged James and said through a smile, "James, dear, where are your manners?

"Oh, it's all right Mom. I already met Lily." His grin returned.

Lily didn't want to be reminded to she tried making conversation. "So, how exactly do you get to platform 9 and 3/4?" she inquired.

"Well it's quite simple really..." began Mr. Potter, but he was quickly interrupted by James, whose whole face had lit up at the mention of the platform.

"Ohh, Lily! I'll show you! I'll show you! Hop in!" he said indicating his trolley.

"Umm... excuse me?" said Lily, not quite understanding what he was talking about.

"Aww come on!" but before Lily got the chance to answer, he scooped her up and dumped her into his trolley along with his trunk.

Lily screamed and James started running in the direction of... a WALL! Her screams ceased. She was so shocked that no sounds could escape from her mouth. Thoughts ran through her head like, "This is it... this is how it's all going to end. And all because of this stupid maniac!!!

Right before the collision, Lily covered her eyes and silently said a little prayer. " Take care of my family, my friends, oh and even _Petunia_!

After a few moments of nothing happening, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She peeked though her fingers to see. Well... there didn't seem to be anything wrong... everything was normal.

Then she looked up at the face grinning down at her. She exploded.

"JAMES, YOU IDIOT!!!! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!!!!" she screamed.

"Whoa, whoa, Lily, Lily. Settle down. I got you here safe and sound didn't I? No worries!" James reassured her.

"What? And where exactly is _here_?" she asked impatiently.

At this James let out a little laugh. " Platform 9 and 3/4 of course." He spread his arms out to show the platform full of Hogwarts students and parents, some of which were looking curiously in their direction. Lily seemed to have not noticed while she was busy shouting at James.

James had a look of triumph on his face. It made Lily sick.

"Well... well... ARG!!!" she screamed in frustration and stormed off to find her parents.

Lily found an empty compartment on the Hogwarts express and as soon as she got comfortable, she took out a well-worn book from her bag that she was currently reading. ÔElla Enchanted'.

It was her favourite book, and she'd read it so many times she could probably recite it by heart from beginning to end. It was what she read whenever she was nervous, or scared, or sad, or angry, or lonely... or even happy for that matter... okay, okay, she read it all the time. It was even the book she had been reading when she had received the Hogwarts letter.

Lily didn't get very far in her reading because soon the compartment door slid open and a head of dark hair popped through.

"Mind if we join you?" the girl asked.

Lily shook her head and said, "Come on in.

"Thanks. I'm Natalia Blake, and this is Amelia Summers." she said indicating the girl who had followed her in, who was also very pretty.

ÔWow,' thought Lily. ÔThey're both really pretty!' Natalia was a tallish slender girl with black hair just past her shoulders. She was wearing it in two loose pig tails. She had dark brown eyes and a dazzling smile. Amelia had light brown hair down to her elbows, with natural golden and honey highlights. She had blue eyes and she also had a very pretty smile.

"I'm Lily Evans.

"Nice to meet you Lily Evans." said Natalia, who seemed to be the least shy of the two. "You a first year?" she asked.

"Yeah.

"Us too." replied Natalia.

"Yeah, I'm really nervous..." added Amelia. "But I think it's best if we just don't think about it. So what are you reading?" she asked Lily, pointing at the book in Lily's hands.

"Oh this." Lily said looking down. "It's ÔElla Enchanted' by Gail Carson Levine. It's my favourite book.

"Really? Wow, that's my favourite book too!" exclaimed Natalia. At that, she reached into her bag and took out her own equally worn copy.

"I've read it, like, a million times!" she continued.

"ME TOO!

The rest of the train ride, the girls talked and found out that they had more things in common. They talked about books, music and pigged out on chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Lily had never tried them before and was quite unfortunate to find a seaweed flavoured one.

"Ewwww!!!" she cried.

"What did you get?" asked Amelia.

"Seaweed!" cried Lily.

"Awww, common. It can't be that bad! Just think of sushi." pointed out Natalia.

"But i _hate_ sushi!

"Really? I love it. Maybe you just haven't given it enough of a chance." said Natalia, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Yeah, I love it too." said Amelia. "Hey, I just got the best idea! We should have a _sushi party_ sometime!" exclaimed a giggling Amelia.

"Umm... no, that's okay..." answered Lily, with a look of disgust on her face. The two girls just laughed even louder.

The rest of the train ride passed very quickly and they soon could see the Hogwarts Castle.

Lily was speechless. It was beautiful! The moon shone onto it making it glow eerily, but the little lights in the windows made it look more welcoming.

"Wow!" cried Amelia. When she was able to tear her eyes away from the beautiful sight, she said, "It's just like my brother told me! He's in his third year and he's in Gryffindor, so I'm hoping to be sorted into Gryffindor too. Then I'll be able to bug him!" She rubbed her hands together excitedly and made an evil little grin with her tongue sticking out. The girls all burst out laughing.

All the first years filed into the Great Hall and stopped in front of the four long wooden house tables packed with older students.

Lily was squashed in between Natalia and a boy with longish black hair. She couldn't help but notice that he was very good looking. Natalia seemed to have noticed too because she kept glancing past Lily to get another look.

After the hat sang its song - which surprised most of the first years, but all the other students seemed to have found it quite natural - the first years were called up alphabetically to be sorted.

Since there were no ÔA's, they started with the ÔB's. Professor McGonagall, a tall black haired witch, also the head of Gryffindor, was calling out students' names and the first one called was, "Black, Sirius!

The boy beside Lily stepped forward, revealing a grinning James, clapping madly. Lily rolled her eyes and thought, "Oh brother!

Sirius picked up the hat, sat down on the stool and placed the hat on his head. After a few moments, the hat cried out, "Gryffindor!

There was a roar of applause from the Gryffindor table. Sirius gave James a thumbs up, shook his fists in the air for victory and bounded off to sit with the other students from his house.

"Blake, Natalia!

Natalia flashed a smile at Lily and went towards the stool. She stuck the hat on her head and a moment later the hat cried out, "Gryffindor!

Natalia looked relieved as she went and sat next to Sirius who was gawking like an idiot.

The list went on with a couple sorted into Ravenclaw, some into Hufflepuff another Gryffindor and three Slytherins. Each table erupted with applause with each new member of their house.

Soon it was Lily's turn to be sorted.

"Evans, Lily!

She could hear her heart beating in her ears, felt her face getting hot and her palms getting all sweaty. She stepped forward slowly and walked over to where the hat was. She glanced nervously in Natalia's direction. She gave Lily a reassuring smile and showed Lily she had her fingers crossed.

Lily felt a little calmer as she sat down and put the hat on her head. She shut her eyes tight and held her breath. She could hear some whispering, and she was wondering where it was coming from. As soon as she figured out it was the hat thinking about what house to place her in, she heard it yell out, "Gryffindor!

There was a roar from the Gryffindor table as Lily sighed a sigh of relief and headed over to Natalia who was jumping up and down with excitement. Once Lily reached her, she was engulfed in a giant bear hug.

"Umm... " she gasped. "Can't... _breath_...!

"Whoops! Sorry Lily!" she apologised, still grinning.

Lily sat down and listened to the other names, dreading when James would be called up.

"He's not gonna be in Gryffindor, he's not gonna be in Gryffindor." she thought, without much conviction.

When James' name was called, Sirius jumped up and applauded very loudly. When he noticed nobody else clapping as exuberantly as him, he slowly sat down. He leaned forward and whispered to the girls, "Sheesh... tough crowd!

Lily suppressed a giggle, and returned her attention to the hat.

James already had it on his head, and yet again the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!

As great applause erupted around her (especially from Sirius) Lily glimpsed James winking at her. She groaned and thought, "This is gonna be one _long_ year...

A/N There's chapter 2 for you! Review and tell me what you think! Also, I'm kinda at a writers block for chapter 3, cuz I already have some done... but if anybody has any ideas for good pranks for the Marauders to pull on Lily and her friends, then write it in your review, or else e-mail me at funkyrocker14hotmail.com. It would be much appreciated! Thanx!

funkyrocker


	3. She Fuckin' Hates Me

A/N All future chapters will be named after a song that either seems relevant, or if i cant find anything, just a song that i like... this took forever. I had it done, but i'm just such a procrastinator, and i havent really been going onto as much lately. But here's chapter 3.

Life, Love and Jelly Beans

Chapter 3: "She Hates Me" - Puddle of Mudd

"_She fuckin' hates me..."_

The Gryffindor first years followed their Prefect up to Gryffindor tower in single file, their stomachs full to bursting from the fantastic feast they had thoroughly enjoyed in the Great Hall. It had been delicious, and they had been looking forward to eating after the long train ride from King's Cross Station, and then the tension from the sorting hat. Now, however, all they wanted to do was head straight off to bed so that they could get some sleep after all the excitement of the day.

The Prefect, a very tall sixth year girl with long brown hair, led them through many halls and passageways, that Lily was sure she wouldn't remember when morning came. They came to the end of a corridor and stopped in front of a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.

"Password." she said, looking down at the group.

The Prefect answered with, "Funkadelic." and the portrait swung open revealing a large hole.

They all climbed through (some people needed a boost) and they found themselves in a big round room full of large squashy armchairs in front of a crackling fire. It seemed very homelike and cozy, and there were already some students heading up staircases, or else talking with friends.

The Prefect showed them the spiral staircases leading to their dormitories, but seemed tired herself.

While she was pointing them in the right direction, Lily thought she resembled a flight attendant at the beginning of a flight. She was about to whisper this thought to Amelia and Natalia, but suddenly remembered that they were witches, and probably would have no idea what she was talking about. For this reason, she decided against it.

The girls and boys each headed off up to their own dorms. Lily was sharing hers with four other girls. There was Natalia and Amelia, (Amelia had also made it into Gryffindor, like she had hoped) as well as two other girls she didn't know. One was a small girl with short blond hair and glasses who seemed quite shy, and the other had long curly blond hair, with sprinkles of freckles across her nose.

Lily, however, didn't get the chance to learn their names quite yet, because as soon as her head hit the soft pillow on her own bed, she fell into a deep sleep.

Lily woke from a dream of flying figures on broomsticks being chased by considerably large items of food (some of which had been present at the feast of the previous night) to a room filled with sunlight streaming through the tower windows. She hadn't closed the curtains of her four poster bed the night before, but didn't mind much since it allowed her the opportunity to lie on her back and observe her surroundings.

She was in another circular room with four other four poster beds, all with their red velvet curtains drawn shut, that she could hear faint breathing coming from. Each bed had the occupant's trunk at the end of it, which must have been brought up while the students werein the Great Hall. There were also high narrow windows which were the cause of the sunlight filtering through.

Lily got up and walked quietly over to one of the windows. She peered through and found herself looking down on the grounds of Hogwarts. She could see a large blue crystal lake with the sunlight reflecting off of it, and the occasional ripple in its perfect glasslike surface. Farther off she could see the tops of the Herbology greenhouses, just past some vegetable patches. Also, there was a large sport pitch with stands for the spectators and three 50 foot high hoops on either side, for a sport that Lily could not have guessed. In the middle of the grounds, off by itself, was a large tree with twisted branches that seemed to have just been planted there, although Lily could not identify what kind of tree it actually was.

Lily then noticed the dark mass of trees that stretched for miles in all directions, which composed the Forbidden Forest Professor Dumbledore had deemed off limits to all students. She thought it did seem rather unwelcoming. She then noticed a small hut on the edge of the forest, with smoke curling from its chimney.

"I wonder who lives there..." she thought.

Her attention was quickly taken away from the view when she heard shuffling coming from the bed nearest her. The curtains were pulled open and out came a groggy looking Amelia.

She yawned loudly, stretched, and then notice Lily standing there.

Lily smiled. "Morning sunshine." she said brightly.

"What time is it?" asked Amelia, ignoring the remark.

"Dunno. Should be about time for breakfast."

"You think we should wake the others?" asked Amelia, glancing over at the other beds.

"That might be best. That way, we can all find our way to the Great Hall together." answered Lily, remembering (or rather _not_ remembering) the trip to the common room through all the different hallways and passages.

"Right."

After shaking the other three girls awake, (it proved to be a very difficult task getting Natalia to get up out of bed) they tried to find their way down to the Great Hall. Luckily, they saw some other older Gryffindors heading down for breakfast and followed them there, making sure to memorise their surroundings so that they could find their way back afterwards.

They found that most of the students were already seated at the four long house tables enjoying their breakfast of eggs, sausages, bacon, porridge... anything they could possibly have wanted to eat for their morning meal.

The girls found some empty seats and sat down together. They chatted and discovered the other girls' names.

The small blond haired one with the glasses was named Shelby Prewett, and the other one with the curly blond hair and freckles was named Donna Fickle.

However, before the girls got any farther into their conversation, they were interrupted by a group of four boys who came and sat across from them, talking loudly. Lily recognised the messy black haired one with glasses at once.

"Why hello Lily." he said beaming over all the piles of food between them. "Remember me?"

"How could I not?" she grumbled, looking down and picking at the raisins in her cinnamon bun.

"Well, I'm flattered." he said smiling, putting on his fake polite voice again. "And who are these lovely ladies who accompany you? Friends of yours?"

"Yeah." she said, then took a bite of the raisin-less cinnamon bun, avoiding giving him an introduction, as he was probably hoping for.

Lily didn't have to though, because Natalia did it instead.

"I'm Natalia Blake, this is Amelia Summers, Shelby Prewett and Donna Fickle." she said, pointing to each girl in turn. "And I guess you already know Lily." she added, looking in Lily's direction with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

The tall black haired one who Lily had stood beside during the sorting ceremony then spoke up.

"Well, I'm Sirius Black, this is Remus Lupin, and this is Peter Pettigrew." he said, first pointing to himself, then to a light brown haired boy with blue eyes, who nodded and smiled, then to a small brown haired boy with a round face, a pointy nose, and watery eyes who looked up at them shyly.

"Hey! And what about me?" asked James, placing his hands on his hips and putting on a mock look of offence.

"Oh yeah, and of course..." Sirius deepened his voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you, the one, the only - drum roll please- " he paused for effect. "James Potter!" he finally yelled, a little too enthusiastically, causing some people from the other tables to look in their direction.

"That's much better." said James with a nod of satisfaction, beginning to pile food onto his golden plate.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "_Any_way..." he began, but before he got any farther, James cut in, looking up with a piece of bacon halfway to his mouth.

"You know, Remus says he has a dog named Lily." he told them with a grin creeping across his face. "She's big and black..." he started. "But old and lazy!"

Lily felt her face going red, and she held a tight grip on her spoon, prepared to fling its contents of porridge in James's face, having already finished her cinnamon bun.

She was a little disappointed when professor McGonagall came by the Gryffindor table handing out timetables, but relieved to be changing the subject away from old, lazy dogs that had the same name as her.

"Let's go." she said, standing up quickly.

The rest of the girls followed suit, and Natalia turned back to say, "See you in Transfiguration boys." She smiled sweetly and gave a little wiggle of her fingers.

They joined the surge of students exiting the Great Hall and headed off to their very first magic lesson.

Lily came panting into the Transfiguration class a minute after the second bell had already gone.

"Sorry - I'm late - Professor..." she breathed, bending double and holding a stitch in her side.

"It's quite all right Ms. Evans, since this is your first lesson on your first day. Just quickly take a seat so we may begin." instructed Professor McGonagall.

Lily slumped down into the only available seat next to Remus, the light brown haired boy she had met during breakfast who was friends with James.

The reason Lily had arrived to class late was that on her way from the Great Hall with the other girls, she was deep in thought thinking about how annoying James was, and had become separated from the others . She had no idea where the Transfiguration room was (or any other classroom for that matter) but she found a teacher who pointed her in the right direction. She raced there as quickly as possible, so she wouldn't be _too_ late.

Remus leaned over and whispered something to Lily.

"It's pretty easy to get lost if you're not used to Hogwarts. You know, it has a hundred and forty two staircases in all." He smiled and winked, with a twinkle in his light blue eyes.

"Yeah." answered Lily, uncertain if he was making fun of her or giving her some form of advice.

She returned her attention to the teacher at the front of the class who was explaining to the class all about Transfiguration, and got them to write down the basic rules.

James raised his hand and asked if they would be trying any transfiguring yet, but McGonagall answered with a small laugh and a, "Certainly not!"

Once their class was over, Lily found Remus's little fact to be quite right, and she ended up being late for every lesson that followed.

She wasn't the only one, though.

While busy looking for the girls after losing them once again in the thick crowd, she heard a voice from behind her.

"So we meet again, Lily Evans."

Lily spun around and found herself face to face with with none other than James. She groaned loudly.

"Not _you_ again!"

"Yep, it's me again, and we both seem to be lost this time." He grinned broadly.

"Yes, it appears so..." Lily said through clenched teeth. "Now leave me alone. I don't need your help." She turned around and began to walk off in a random direction, hoping that she was heading towards the dungeons for Poyions with the Slytherins, but with James at her heels.

By now, he halls had emptied out considerably, and doors were being closed. The second bell went, and Lily and James were late.

"You're going the wrong way." he said simply.

"How would you know? You just said you were lost too!" she snapped.

After a slight pause, James shrugged his shoulders and said, "I lied."

This made Lily very angry. It's all his fault she's late! He could have at least been kind enough to show her the way.

"All right then Mr. Know-it-all!" she yelled, turning to face him. "Lead the way!" She flailed her arms, and could feel her face going red.

Her sudden outburst seemed to have shocked James, and others it seemed too. A door nearby swung open and a small teacher with pointed ears was standing in the doorway. The two looked down at him.

"Get to class you two." he said in a squeaky voice. "the second bell has already gone. You should be in class right now."

"Uhhh... sorry professor... we just got lost." said Lily.

"Well that's no excuse to be yelling out in the halls. It's quite disruptive."

"Sorry." mumbled Lily.

The tiny professor then gave them directions, and once they were out of earshot, Lily let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, that was close! I'm glad he didn't take any points from Gryffindor."

"Close? You call that close? That was nothing!" said James arrogantly.

"You just... just, shut up."

They were silent the rest of the way to Potions, and when they finally walked into the classroom, almost 15 minutes late, the teacher, Professor Davies, wasn't too happy.

"You're late, you two." she snapped. "15 points each from Gryffindor." she said, before they could get a chance to explain. "One for every minute of learning time you've wasted. Now sit down."

Already Lily knew she didn't like Professor Davies. She was a tall skinny witch, with frizzy red dyed hair and a slightly pinched nose. She looked as if she never smiled, and she seemed to take pleasure in taking points from them. Lily later found out that she was the head of Slytherin, and that she was very unfair to all students except her own.

Lily went and sat down in the empty seat next to Amelia, and sank low in her chair. She had already had points taken from Gryffindor, and on her first day! She sat without saying another word for the whole lesson, anticipating the end of the day.

Later that evening in the common room, Lily sat in front of the fire, crackling merrily in its grate, in one of the squashy armchairs reading Ella Enchanted. Someone came and sat down in the armchair next to her, but Lily didn't even glance up from her book. She was at a good part.

"Hey," the person finally said.

Lily looked up and saw the beautiful black haired girl looking back at her.

"Hey," she said back, returning her gaze to her book.

There was another moment's silence, then, "Look, it's okay to lose a couple points on your first day. You're still getting used to things. Don't let it bring you down," she added comfortingly.

Lily sighed and closed her book. "It's not just that. It's just... so _different_ here. All these new things... major culture shock. And... James isn't making it any easier for me. He's just... _so annoying_!"

"Hey, boys will be boys, right? Listen, just ignore him and maybe he'll get the picture and leave you alone. Come on, let's play a game of wizards chess." She stood up and beckoned for Lily to follow. Lily was reluctant at first, but finally gave in with a sigh and joined her friend.

A/N Thats it for now... so if i get enough reviews maybe ill update... maybe. I'll have to see. So review!! I need a shove every now and then, and maybe some inspiration would help too.... anyone know where i can find some?

funkyrocker


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